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[CHOIR SINGING] RACHEL REABE: After the choir at Crosslake Lutheran Church in Northern Minnesota sings the benediction, Sunday morning worshippers gather up their Bibles and bulletins and head across the hall for a cup of coffee, a donut, and maybe a quick blood pressure check.

SHARON NELSON: That's great. 158 over 68. You're just really--

RUTH HANSON: 158, is that good?

SHARON NELSON: That's fine. You know--

RACHEL REABE: Before the morning is over, parish nurse Sharon Nelson will discuss the grieving process with a woman whose husband has recently died, check out a bump on a man's finger, and take a handful of blood pressure readings. For two years, Nelson and Kathleen Wiseman have served their congregation as parish nurses, volunteering about 10 hours a week. Nelson, who works full time at St. Joseph's Medical Center in nearby Brainerd, says they serve as a resource and referral center for the church.

SHARON NELSON: Not to duplicate, but to connect, to fill the gaps, to help people become and stay all that God meant them to be. I mean, Christ was a healer. That healing ministry was in the church in the early years. But the time has come for us to bring it back to where it started. And that's in the church.

RACHEL REABE: Nelson and Wiseman were trained by the parish nurse center at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, one of only a handful of college parish training centers in the country. Director Cynthia Gustafson says the 30-hour course helps registered nurses develop the spiritual side of their ministry.

CYNTHIA GUSTAFSON: Because sometimes in nursing, we have had to shy away from expressing some of our personal spirituality or using prayer. So it's more of an affirmation. They have the tools there. I think they have the deep faith.

RACHEL REABE: The fledgling parish nurse movement is gathering momentum with 3,000 nurses working in churches across the country. Training courses offered by the five-year-old parish nursing center at Concordia filled a capacity with a waiting list. Gustafson says hospitals and clinics are working to develop parish nurse programs in their communities.

CYNTHIA GUSTAFSON: Many of the health care institutions have grabbed hold of the idea and said, aha, this sounds like an exact way for us to access people in the community and provide our services and also help the communities.

RACHEL REABE: Gustafson estimates about half of Minnesota's 300 parish nurses are volunteers. But more congregations are bringing on parish nurses as part-time staff positions or paying for training and expenses. Pastor Len Anderson of the Crosslake Lutheran Church says their church council is considering making the parish nurse job a paid position.

LEN ANDERSON: There will be some folks that will say, well, the work of the church is to deal with the spirit. And we shouldn't be messing around with these other things. You go to the hospital, have that done-- or the clinic. But as a whole, the people that have the contact with the parish nurse, after their first contact, they're sold on it. And I'm sure it's not just to have the blood pressure taken. It's also to have the chance to talk in confidence and confidentiality to somebody who represents both the medical profession as well as the church.

RACHEL REABE: At Crosslake Lutheran Church, the parish nurses have held a community health fair, started a vision loss support group, and scheduled health and parenting seminars. Their office, just a couple of doors down from Fellowship Hall, is open for business Sunday morning after the worship service.

SHARON NELSON: Come on in, Ruth. Come on over, and have a seat.

RUTH HANSON: Thank you.

SHARON NELSON: How have you been?

RACHEL REABE: 76-year-old Ruth Hanson started seeing parish nurse Sharon Nelson after a heart attack six months ago. Hanson says she left the hospital overwhelmed and afraid.

RUTH HANSON: A doctor, to me, will always be intimidating. And so I never quite relaxed. And I forget half the things I'm going to ask. One of the nurses, she told me about this service with this church in Crosslake. It's just been the difference between night and day for me. There's a spiritual relationship to have a parish nurse that's a Christian nurse that cares about you, be someone you can actually come in, and never hurry you.

RACHEL REABE: Hanson sees parish nurse Sharon Nelson every couple of weeks. Their visit in the parish nurse office seems more like a chat between old friends. They discuss Hanson's blood sugar readings and exercise program, as well as shopping, a recent show at the Ordway theater, and Hanson's upcoming move to Saint Paul for the winter months.

SHARON NELSON: I'll keep you in prayer, OK, during the months that you're gone. If I'm down in the cities, I'm going to give you a call.

RUTH HANSON: Yes, I hope you do.

SHARON NELSON: Anything special as I keep you in prayer that you would like me to pray for, for you?

RUTH HANSON: No, I don't think so. The Lord knows what I need.

OK. Well, good. And I know He's taking good care of you. And He's bringing the right people there--

RACHEL REABE: In the last year, churches in nearby Pine River and Nisswa have added parish nurses. Plans are underway to develop parish nurse programs at five Brainerd churches. Cynthia Gustafson of Concordia's parish nurse center says she hopes parish nurses will become a vital part of the church, ministering to the body and the soul. I'm Rachel Reabe for Mainstreet Radio.

[CHOIR SINGING]